Passion Projects

By Naperville Magazine
July 2026 View more Featured

By Lisa Arnett and Jeff Banowetz

Meet 6 local entrepreneurs forging their own paths

Regardless of your original plan when you entered the job market, there comes a time for many when a career change is on the table. It might arrive out of necessity, obligation, or inspiration—or even take you by surprise. “Sometimes, your purpose can grow out of your own life experiences,” says Trinetter Sims-Rainey, who found a new role in estate sales after a career in corporate accounting. “Your skills can evolve into something bigger than you originally thought.” From a juice bar owner and an app developer to a mobile bookstore operator and restaurateur, meet these local residents who are making moves and serving the community in one entrepreneurial swoop.

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Veteran Leadership

Connecting military veterans with small businesses

Lynn Lowder is serious about helping people follow their dreams.

The retired Marine is probably best known in Naperville for his restaurant, Rosie’s Home Cookin’, which relocated from its Route 59 location to a new space in CityGate Center earlier this year. He founded the breakfast-and-lunch spot in 2022 with co-owner and restaurateur Dale Eisenberg to support their nonprofit, Veteran Business Project. But it also helped Lowder fulfill his own dream. “I’ve always wanted to have a restaurant since I was a kid in downstate Illinois, where every town had a local diner,” Lowder says. “It probably doesn’t make sense to wait until you’re 76 years old to open a restaurant, but I’d been spending years telling people to follow their dreams, so I thought I might as well take my own advice.”

Rosie’s has a mission. Lowder, who became a lawyer after serving in Vietnam, founded the Veterans Business Project in 2011 to help returning service members who wanted to start a business but didn’t have the necessary skills or capital, or were unable to follow the career paths of earlier generations.

“I did the research,” he says. “In the nine years after World War II, 49.7 percent of our veterans got into business for themselves. That’s just an astounding figure when you look back on it.”

Lowder believes that so many veterans were able to start or buy a business because the banking system was so different then. “Every town had its own bank, and there was a banker in town who knew you,” he says. “You’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life. George Bailey was the friendly local banker. He knew your parents and probably your grandparents. And so if you were a decent soul, you were going to get a loan.”

With the consolidation of the banking industry, those personal connections disappeared, and it became harder for veterans to get the funding to start a business. So Rosie’s serves two functions that patrons probably may not notice over their bacon and eggs. First, it provides hands-on business training in a real-world setting for veterans considering opening a small business. Second, all profits from the restaurant are used to fund the VBP, which provides additional mentorship and educational opportunities for veterans.

Lowder helps veterans find existing government programs that provide training and support, but he quickly found that getting money to start a business—rather than paying for college—was very difficult. He and Eisenberg started lobbying lawmakers to make it easier for those interested in taking a different career path. “We were just two regular dudes trying to figure things out,” he says. “And, boy, did we get an education in how Washington works.”

While success in changing the laws has been slow, Lowder says progress is being made, thanks in part to a big demographic shift: The older generation that created small businesses is ready to sell them. “We started getting these unsolicited calls from people who want to sell their businesses,” he says. “A lot of the time, [their] kids don’t want to take over the business anymore. So they have this valuable item, but it might not be easy to find someone who can take it over.”

VBP can help. “We started coaching people and developed a business model we called V-Harmony. There’s eHarmony to get a date, in V-Harmony, we can help match veterans and their military spouses with existing businesses looking to sell.”

The older generation can cash out and keep the business they started alive, while veterans can take over a business with an existing client base and infrastructure. “It’s win-win for everyone,” Lowder says. It’s also making lawmakers more amenable to changes in existing programs. “The GI Bill offers basically two choices for veterans: They can get a college degree or learn a trade,” Lowden says. “Why can’t they have access to being in business for themselves? It’s their benefit. They’ve earned it. Why can’t they apply that? I think it’s fair to say, there’s been some blowback from some circles that it should be for education only…But we’re seeing people more amenable to that change now.”

Whatever happens in Washington, Lowden, who turns 80 this year, will continue to help veterans integrate into civilian life. “They’ve developed these incredible skills in the service,” he says. “They just need the chance to put them to use.” —J.B.

Reading to Go

Hitting the road with a mobile bookstore

Amanda Klousnitzer-Hutchens was very excited about opening her own bookstore. She was just a little worried about learning how to back it into a parking space.

A Naperville native, she now lives in Yorkville with her husband and daughter and is the proud owner of a mobile bookstore called The Fox and the Fable, created with a 12-foot cargo trailer and launched this spring.

She first discovered the concept of a mobile bookstore on a trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where she was, believe it or not, on a reading retreat with some friends. “I walked inside and thought: This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen—why can’t I do something like this?” Klousnitzer-Hutchens recalls. “So I went home and told my husband, ‘You’re about to get a part-time job.’ But he was very excited about it…He’s a reader just like me.”

They saved up last summer and bought a trailer in the fall. Over the winter, they put down floors, built shelving, and painted, styling an interior that resembles a cozy reading nook more than a commercial trailer.

With a mobile bookstore, the idea is to meet people where they might not expect to find one. “We’re at breweries, markets, festivals, coffee shops, and community events,” she says. “So then maybe people stumble into the trailer who weren’t planning to visit a bookstore that day.”

For inventory, Klousnitzer-Hutchens, a voracious reader, leans on the titles that she loves. “That’s the most exciting part of the process—I get to pick the books,” she says. “It’s so much fun. I’m a multigenre reader, so I’m selecting books that I love, from romance, thrillers, fantasy, cozy contemporary, new literary fiction, you name it. I’ve got everything from mass-market paperbacks to classic titles we all love. I really like relying on books that I’ve read and enjoyed. That way I can talk about them and spark a great conversation.”

Klousnitzer-Hutchens’s love of reading started early. “Both my parents are huge readers,” she says. “One of my favorite memories was when my parents determined I was old enough to bike to the library by myself.”

She entered education as a reading specialist and later spent several years as a fifth-grade teacher. She now works for the University of Illinois as an instructional designer, helping professors set up their courses. “I loved teaching, but this job has allowed me more flexibility to be a mom, and now it’s helped to have the flexibility to start this business,” she says.

Her husband, Jack Hutchens, an English teacher at Plainfield East High School, and 8-year-old daughter, Harriet (named after Harriet the Spy, naturally), have both been very supportive of the project. She has been taking it to festivals and events throughout the area, mostly on weekends. She’s been impressed by the reception her little reading shop on wheels has received. “It’s been amazing,” she says. “I thought people might like it or think it’s cute, but people have been so incredibly excited about it. I think readers are really craving cozy community spaces right now.”

Fortunately, there seems to be no shortage of passionate readers. “One of my favorite things is how emotional people get about books,” she says. “They’ll walk in and immediately start telling me stories about books they loved or books their parents shared with them…Just getting to meet so many people and talk about books has been a dream come true.”

As for the hard part of the experience, it has indeed been maneuvering the trailer. “I would go to parking lots and just practice backing it up over and over again,” she says. “With lots of practice, I think I’ve figured it out.” —J.B.

Smoothie Transition

Serving up healthy sips

Naperville resident Maria Cortes always wanted to own a business. Growing up in Mexico City among family members in the hospitality business and later working in the dining industry in London, Cortes thought restaurant operation would be a natural fit once her family had settled in Naperville. What she didn’t anticipate was that her daughter’s medical diagnosis would lead her to exactly the right venture.

Cortes’s husband, Gonzalo, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in his 20s. They knew it was a possibility for their daughter, Pia, as well, “but obviously, you deny it until the last moment,” Cortes says. In 2024, Pia was diagnosed with type 1 at age 10. “I can see [being diabetic] through my husband’s eyes and through my daughter’s eyes, and it’s very different,” Cortes says. “He was diagnosed as an adult and he was able to understand what was going on. For kids, it is a very tough condition. They do not understand that they need to do certain things to stay healthy, because the consequences if not can be terrible…She was constantly asking, ‘Why me?’ ”

Eating a balanced diet also has been a longtime challenge for Pia. “She has always, since she was a baby, been a very picky eater,” Cortes says. “She was very picky with texture and flavors, and she wouldn’t eat any fruit, any veggies, and all of her life I’ve been struggling with that.” The few foods that Pia did accept reliably, like cereal and pancakes, were carb heavy and could spike her blood sugar if not balanced with protein, fiber, and fat. “When she got her diagnosis, I was terrified,” Cortes recalls.

The Cortes family also was often on the go. “We spent a lot of time out of the house between the school and her activities,” Cortes says. “So I was always looking for healthy snacks in between.” One day on the way to a horseback riding lesson, Cortes stopped at Clean Juice (2879 95th St., Naperville) as Pia proclaimed her hunger from the back seat. Cortes hoped that Pia was hungry enough to take a chance on something new—and she did, choosing a strawberry-banana smoothie with almond milk from the kids’ menu. “The most amazing part was that she actually liked the smoothie,” she says. “I was very surprised because there was no way I could have given her a strawberry and she would have eaten it.” Stopping at Clean Juice became a ritual on the way to horseback riding, and Pia started branching out to try new flavors, such as the Mango ’N Cream smoothie with mango, banana, turmeric, cinnamon, and coconut cream. “She said, ‘I absolutely love this,’ ” Cortes says. “And her [blood sugar] levels were steady.”

Clean Juice is a national franchise with about 70 locations; the Naperville location is currently the only in Illinois. When Cortes heard it was up for sale, she saw it as a sign. She took over the business in January. In addition to smoothies, the shop sells fresh juices, açai bowls, toasts, and sandwiches.

Pia, now 12, loves to hang out at the shop and knows how to prepare every smoothie and açai bowl on the menu. “We have a couple of diabetic kids who have become regulars, and she talks to them about the smoothies and what to add, what not to add,” Cortes says. “Owning this kind of business is a very personal story for me. It’s the way I can give back to the community a little piece of what it gave to me and my family.” —L.A.

Estate Sale Expert

Turning chaos to calm

Oswego resident Trinetter Sims-Rainey always has felt most fulfilled when helping people. That’s why she originally went into accounting. “People would say, ‘I don’t understand math; l don’t like numbers,’ ” she says. “That was a strength for me, so it was a way I could help others.” She spent more than two decades working in private and public accounting and leadership with companies such as Arthur Andersen and McDonald’s before leaving the corporate world in 2021.

Another passion of hers—home organization—led Sims-Rainey to help a friend who owned an estate sale franchise on Chicago’s South Side. “I loved helping her with staging and organizing, but the commute was taking away from time with my family and that was my initial ‘why’ for walking away from corporate,” she says. “I really enjoyed the concept of estate sales, of supporting families in an overwhelming situation that’s really a challenge for them…I thought: What about bringing this to the western suburbs?”

In 2022, Sims-Rainey opened her own franchise of Blue Moon Estate Sales in Naperville. “Whether you’re downsizing your own home and you have a lot of possessions you’ve accumulated over the years, or whether you have inherited the items of a loved one, we come in and help you figure out, ‘What’s your next step?’ ” she says. “We review everything you have in the house, organize everything, research and price things, and host an estate sale for you. The only requirement from the [client] is to identify what sentimental items they are keeping.”

It wasn’t long ago that Sims-Rainey was tasked with liquidating her own parents’ estate. “When both of my parents passed, my siblings and I needed to clear out our childhood home. It’s all the memories, the keepsakes, the furniture, family history, and it can be overwhelming,” she says. “And for us, unfortunately our story didn’t end with an estate sale company coming in for the win; instead we had the painful reality of the junk-it truck hauling away all the family memories, and storage units we ended up paying for, for things that we couldn’t part with at that moment in time.”

Now, Sims-Rainey guides others in managing this unexpected life transition while tapping into her financial savvy, leadership skills, and organizational instincts. “When I walk into a house, and it’s filled to the brim, that’s when my excitement kicks in,” Sims-Rainey says. “We bring in tables and display cases and shelving to turn the house from a lived-in home to a pop-up shop.” Unique and valuable items she’s encountered include an Omega Seamaster watch, Eames chairs, and a mid-century patio set by sculptor John Risely with steel chairs designed to look like sitting figures. One of her favorite sales was for a homeowner who had more than 8,000 vintage Pyrex cooking and serving pieces, all displayed on custom shelving in their basement.

Sims-Rainey also appreciates how the benefits of estate sales extend beyond the homeowner’s family. “We can help other local business owners like caterers and event planners get supplies for their inventory at affordable prices,” she says. “We have a school in Plainfield with a formalwear closet that we can donate evening gowns and things that don’t really sell. Broken jewelry that would have found its way to the garbage, we can give that to craft classes at local schools, or household supplies can go to churches who give them to families in need. It just means that the impact expands beyond the original sale itself because these items get to continue being used by others.” —L.A.

Food and Family

Cooking up a new kind of sports bar

The restaurant business is tough on your personal life, with so many long hours of work at night and on weekends away from the family. So when friends and longtime restaurateurs Erik Baylis and Jim Heflin talked about working together again, they knew the idea had to be different.

“It had to be in St. Charles,” Baylis says, because that’s where Heflin and his family lived, and after years of commuting to restaurants, he wanted to be close to home. “And it needed to be a place where we wanted to spend time. We wanted to make sure it was a place that was friendly and comfortable…And so our mission statement became that this restaurant’s mission was to make sure that everyone who walked in felt like the most important person in the room.”

Both are veterans of Big Onion Hospitality, which owns and operates restaurants across the city and suburbs, including Fatpour and Hopsmith. Baylis had worked his way up the food chain there, from a manager to eventually an owner, growing the number of restaurants from three to 12. It’s how Baylis met Helflin. “[Helfin} is such a hard worker, and I respected him so much,” Baylis says. “As an owner, I’d try to come up with things about the business to teach him, but it never worked because he knew more than I did. He’s so freaking smart and talented.”

After a messy breakup from Big Onion, Baylis thought he would take a break from the restaurant industry. “But, to my surprise, I found that I still had the passion,” he says. He teamed with Heflin on the concept: to create a restaurant that fit the area, offering a family-friendly environment that worked for both a meal after the kids’ soccer game and for the adults to return later in the night for a drink or to watch a ballgame.

The result of all the planning was the creation of Simple EJ’s Kitchen & Tap, located in Fox Haven Square (300 N. Kirk Road) in St. Charles, which opened in May. Named for the two owners, it also enforces their concept of keeping things simple while focusing on the quality of the experience.

“Everything’s from scratch, and people will discover that chef Heflin is one of the top chefs in the country,” Baylis says. “The reason he’s not better known is that he works so much and doesn’t do media…he focused on his family instead. But the techniques he uses are just incredible. The wings take three days to make. The menu may look familiar, but this isn’t the type of food you’re getting in most restaurants.”

Outside of the kitchen, Baylis is focused on providing “unreasonable hospitality” to patrons. “We want to make people feel special from the moment they come in,” he says. “If we’re doing our job, people want to hang out here. And that means that people enjoy working here. So it builds off of each other to ensure that it becomes part of the community.”

They’ve also created a subscription model that makes it easier for families to become regulars: For $24.99 a month, up to two kids can eat free from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, along with other perks. “It’s something I haven’t really seen done before, but I think it makes sense,” Baylis says.

Most importantly, the pair is looking forward to focusing on this 200-seat restaurant and enjoying their passion for food. “It seems like the goal of most restaurants is to scale them up,” he says. “I’ve been blessed in my career that I’ve made good money. I’m at the stage of my life where I don’t want to make 300 of these. I want to do something that hasn’t been done before and do a great job with it. Maybe we’ll be the first sports bar with a Michelin star?” —J.B.

Real-World Reviews

Creating a platform for parents

When Tyler Miller became a dad, he expected the typical challenges of parenthood, like taming tantrums and homework help. What he didn’t expect was all the research—and the subsequent frustration—involved with choosing the right activities for his kids.

“I want to be a good dad, and I want to sign my kids up for things that they’ll love,” Miller says. He enjoyed sports, jazz band, and theater growing up in Naperville and met his now-wife Christa in a youth drama program called Only A Stage, once starring in the company’s production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown during high school. “I was Snoopy, and she was Woodstock, and the rest is history,” Miller says. She graduated from Naperville Central, he from Naperville North, and they both attended Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington. After marrying in 2014, they lived in Oak Park before moving back to Naperville in 2016 to raise their two sons, Charlie, 8, and Owen, 6.

“Especially now with the industrialization of kids’ activities, everything is so expensive, and there is more pressure for kids to get into competitive sports early,” Miller says. “It’s harder and harder for parents to, A, balance their budget and, B, get info on where to find the right thing.” He and Christa found themselves researching for hours and still not coming away with enough data to make informed decisions. “You don’t know if some random park district camp is any good, so you text your friends and say, ‘Do you know anyone who has done this?’ or you go searching on Facebook groups,” Miller says. “I can find 100 reviews for a restaurant that is going to sell me a cheeseburger, but when it comes to spending $1,000 on a summer camp, I have to dig to find one person who has done what I want to do. I thought: This really sucks. I wish there was a review platform for this.”

But Miller’s background was in sales and strategy consulting, not software. “I thought, I really wish I knew how to code so I could build a tool to make this easier,” he says. He filed the idea away until it bubbled to the surface again within the last year. “My company had been messing around with AI, and our usage of it has grown over the years,” he says. After experimenting with AI to create some simple apps, Miller reconsidered whether he could create a review platform for kids activities with the help of Claude. “I decided to start building this thing, so on nights and weekends I’m sitting at the kitchen table, putting together this app, figuring out a launch strategy and how to get it into the app store,” he says. His app, playGrades (playgrades.app), debuted in April. It’s free for users to search and review sports leagues, park district programs, summer camps, playgrounds, party venues, pools, and more. It’s also independent—no sponsored listings or paid placements in the mix. “I’m out there on the sidelines of kids’ sports games and wandering around Fort Hill talking with people and…spreading the word that every review makes it better, and the more you contribute, the more it works,” Miller says. “If you can take 30 seconds to share whether your kid had a good experience in a program, you can really help other families.” —L.A.

Photos: Nick Murway (Lowder and Rosie’s Home Cookin’); The Fox and the Fable; The Fox and the Fable; Clean Juice; Trinetter Sims-Rainey (portrait); Jen Banowetz (Blue Moon Estate Sales); Jen Banowetz (Simple EJ’s); McHugh Photography (Ryan Miller and playGrades)